1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicular lamp used in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicular lamp such as a vehicle headlamp, it is necessary to form a light distribution pattern with high precision in view of safety. The light distribution pattern is formed by an optical system using a reflector and a lens as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication (Laid-Open) No. 1994-89601. In addition, it has been recently studied that a semiconductor light emitting element is used in the vehicle headlamp.
In optical design to form the light distribution pattern, it might be necessary to consider the shape of an emitting area of the light source. And the semiconductor light emitting element produces light from the emitting area with expansion such as the entire surface thereof. Therefore, if the semiconductor light emitting element is used in the vehicle headlamp, the optical design is complicated, and it is difficult to form a proper light distribution pattern.